Known mortal sin

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If you commit a mortal sin and know that you have can you wait 3 weeks before going to confession but still receive communion during those 3 weeks ?
 
Are you barred from Confession by your Confessor for scrupulosity? I am asking because some Confessors will limit the amount of times/how often you can go to Confession when dealing with penitents who suffer from scrupulosity and obsessive confessing/ruminating.
 
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If you know with 100% certainty you have committed a mortal sin, it would be a sacrilege to receive communion and you may not do so until you have gone to confession. However, as @canvas mentioned, if you suffer from scrupulosity and your confessor has specifically limited the amount you may go to confession, there might be more reason to question whether you have committed a mortal sin in the first place.
 
State of grace is required to receive Holy Communion worthily. Receiving in the state of mortal sin is an additional mortal sin of sacrilege. So…no, one would need to confess first. And really, confession should be made as soon as possible out of concern for one’s soul.

Code of Canon Law:
Can. 916 A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to […] receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition which includes the resolution of confessing as soon as possible.
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If you have trouble with scrupulosity you should ask your confessor for guidance.
 
No this not about me,a friend of ours was told this supposedly by a priest.
 
Just to clarify: is this person receiving pastoral care for scrupulosity? Because that makes it “different” than other situations. Did the Priest instruct the person not to confess for a specific period of time? In cases of scrupulosity, which a type of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and can be debilitating (it can mean the person is seeing a mortal sin when there could be significant doubt if this is the case), the proper way to handle the situation by clergy is to give clear instruction, including strict orders about how often and what a person confesses (for example, they will often ban any confession of sin when there is doubt involved). This is absolutely traditional, solid Church practice and very well developed. That is why I am asking why the Priest told him not to confess, because scrupulosity changes the whole scenario.
 
Thank you all for the information the code of canon law appears to give me the answer and information needed !
 
In that case, the person should wait until they have an opportunity to receive properly.
 
JosephA1 said:
If you commit a mortal sin and know that you have can you wait 3 weeks before going to confession but still receive communion during those 3 weeks ?
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Latin Canon Law
Can. 916 A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition which includes the resolution of confessing as soon as possible.
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Perfect contrition, Catechism:
1452 When it arises from a love by which God is loved above all else, contrition is called “perfect” (contrition of charity). Such contrition remits venial sins; it also obtains forgiveness of mortal sins if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible.51
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Oh yeah, and just as a side note regarding the above canon in case of any possible confusion, “celebrate Mass” refers only to the clergy’s role, so while one would confess before receiving the Eucharist, they would still for example attend Mass to meet the obligation (and abstain from communion).
 
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If you know in your conscience that you have committed a mortal sin, regardless of how long you have to wait, you must not partake in the Eucharist until you confess to a priest. This is not due to a church-made rule or your sins interfering with God. On the contrary, the exact opposite… this is actually for your own good, hence protecting you.

(1 Cor 11:27-30) “Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord. Therefore are there many inform and weak among you, and many sleep.”
 
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You are not supposed to receive communion if you are in the state of mortal sin.
 
  • the doer must be fully aware that what he is doing is wrong
  • he must do it with full consent of the will
  • and the form and matter of the act must be grave
    just a very basic thing to know a mortal sin
    @Catholic Turk
    i was now about to quote that piece of scripture
 
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  1. commit mortal sin
  2. perfect act of contrition
  3. receive communion
  4. go to confession
the time between 2 and 4 should be minimized, an earnest attempt at going to confession must be made in order for 3 to be okay. If say it’s a tuesday, sin, satruday for confession comes and you think you need to go to a birthday party at 4 instead of confession at 4. That sunday, you should not receive communion as you skipped the thing that you said you’d do (confession) that made the other thing you said valid (contrition)

sin on tuesday, go to confession saturday, for whatever reason, the line was out the door and you didn’t make it into the confessional before the priest came out and said, “no more confessions, i need to say mass”

that sunday, you’d be good to go. Next saturday, goto confession … unless barred for some reason beyond your control.

there’s also options for special confessions, just call the parish and make an appointment with the priest for any time he’s available, that would take care of stuff before Communion.

and, of course, as previous posters have made very clear, be aware of scrupulosity
 
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KatyCatholic said:
sin on tuesday, go to confession saturday, for whatever reason, the line was out the door and you didn’t make it into the confessional before the priest came out and said, “no more confessions, i need to say mass”

that sunday, you’d be good to go. Next saturday, goto confession … unless barred for some reason beyond your control.

there’s also options for special confessions, just call the parish and make an appointment with the priest for any time he’s available, that would take care of stuff before Communion.
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I doubt there would be a “grave reason” as required by canon law to receive communion before sacramental confession under ordinary circumstances. The “no opportunity to confess” condition is met in the sense that there is no opportunity before the current Mass time… but there would still need to be a serious reason to receive at that particular time (e.g. the person is in danger of death, there are probably others but needless to say not a routine situation as we are not under obligation to receive at every Mass we attend nor at every Sunday Mass).

Seems to me the right thing to do in this situation would be to abstain from communion and go to confession at the earliest opportunity, and then receive (perhaps at Mass the next day) once sacramental confession has been made.
Can. 916 A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to […] receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition which includes the resolution of confessing as soon as possible.
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Also even in a case where a grave reason to receive at that time is present, since an act of perfect contrition only remits mortal sins when one resolves to confess sacramentally “as soon as possible” I would think they would need to resolve to make every effort to do so rather than just go to the next scheduled confession. (As you mentioned one can contact the parish to confess outside of scheduled times.)
 
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Perfect! Thanks for the additional detail, couldn’t agree more.
 
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